the improved whiskey cocktail. sometimes even really good things can get better. that does it for us tonight. we will see you again monday sometimes, even really good things can good get better. that does it for us tonight. "hardball" is up next. the man and his mandate. mr. "hardball"! ♪ good evening, i'm chris matthews in washington. let me start with this. the re-elected president did it today. he said what he's going to do. how he's going to lead. he's going to do it as a world leader entering into negotiations with conditions. those preconditions are clear. a tape back from the bush tax cuts from the top. this is it. it means people know we have a president now who's ready to

stand his ground, for jobs, for growth, but not the bush/romney way. no more trickle down now that the people of this country have sent their message from the top up. he will be a democratic president. he will be fair on taxes. he will use those taxes to rebuild this country and educate it up to the tough competition we face in this 21st century. rock solid he is. backed again by a majority of the american people. indeed, re-elected as the only second democrat since the civil war with two majority elections. the other, of course, is fdr. with an updated mandate he is back. some ready to deal, others hiding in their bunkers, waiting for something, anything to save them from the terrifying sight of the 21st century. i'm joined by dee dee myers, former press secretary and the author of the e book "47%."

the president stressed he's willing to compromise to avoid the consequence of going over that so-called fiscal cliff at the end of the year. however, he's sticking to his guns that the wealthiest need to be asked to pay a bit more. let's watch. >> i want to be clear. i'm not wedded to every detail of my plan. i'm open to compromise. i'm open to new ideas. i'm committed to solving our fiscal challenges. but i refuse to accept any approach that isn't balanced. i'm is not going to ask students and seniors and middle-class families to pay down the entire deficit, while people like me, making over $250,000 aren't asked to pay a dime more in taxes. this was a central question during the election. it was debated over and over again. and on tuesday night, we found out that the majority of americans agree with my approach. >> couldn't be more direct in that. i like the clarity of it today.

he said, i'll negotiate it, but not on this. >> two years ago, when he cut that deal to extend the tax cuts in return basically for a second stimulus, i thought he was going deal with at the time. he said exactly this. last time, i'm going to do this. i'm taking hostages, i'm getting more return. >> he also said this is what the election is about. >> and it was. if you look at the exit polls, you look at the numbers. mandate is a big word you used at the top of the show, but he won. at some point, he has shown he's been willing to compromise in democratic policies much more than the republicans. he will give entitlements but he has to give something in return. >> dee dee, tell me what you think. what you heard today. i thought it was dramatic. he said, this election meant something. it meant fairness. >> right. that was probably single most repeated phrase of the campaign. the message was protecting the

middle class and they beat romney very badly on that. >> romney in all the polls, including the one last night, didn't buy his act. >> right. >> and called for lower tax rates which didn't win the day for him. >> and the other part which is important, he said i'm not wedded to any detail of my plan. i'm open to compromise. that is really important because both sides have to give up things they care about. >> i heard an entirely different speech than we all did had romney won, and he could have won, a couple weeks ago, looked like he was headed that direction. he said he wanted the tax money from the rich because he wanted to do things. not to screw them, but to do something. he actually came out and said i want to do things. rebuild the highways. we've got to catch up the chinese in education. catch up to the west in the world. >> i think the election we just had had in some ways is one of the most ideological election that's we've had in modern

times. the president as you look at a way to come together communally to invest in education, infrastructure, to move the country today. the romney view which is simply stated, people believe this, the government, the enemy, you got to get government out of the way, and the markets work and that's how you move ahead. it was very clear cut. and one guy won, one guy lost. >> well, we're in this now. i thought the president, the speech, i'm beginning to like it now. because i'm beginning to hear in it a lot of thought. a lot of thought. >> yeah, there's no question that i think david is right that this was an ideological election. the problem is, still, half the country didn't vote for him. and they sent a republican house back to congress. and so that's just the reality. everybody agrees we have to do something about the fiscal cliff. the question comes now, you have to agree you have to do something. how do you make this work. and the president made very

clear today that investments in creating jobs, things like infrastructure and technology are not negotiable. >> with the house, we know that, he has to deal with the house. john boehner, the speaker of the house, also 25uked about the fiscal cliff and hinted for compromise. you got to listen carefully to see the compromise that could be coming. let's listen. >> it's clear, there are a lot of loopholes in the tax code, both corporate and personal. it's also clear that there are all kinds of deductions, some of which make sense, others don't. everything, everything on the revenue side and the spending side has to be looked at. >> anyway, senator chuck schumer this morning suggested that the right wing might be more willing to accept compromise now. it's been helpful. let's watch. >> boehner wants to compromise, that's why he gave that speech. boehner's not a hard right guy, he's a mainstream conservative. i think he's going to help.

the hard right is chastened in a lot of ways. >> in south carolina, a republican, jeff duncan, who quoted him as follows, when i look at the results of the election, congressman duncan says, it becomes clear to me that the house is now the last line of defense for preserving freedom in this country. the people of south carolina clearly rejected president obama's policies i understand intend to fight on their behalf. in other words, it's the civil war. i'm standing up for south carolina. and obama may be interested in this thing called the union. i'm for sc sc. what an amazing, loyalty for your are state, as opposed to your country. didn't we get past that at one point? >> i don't think so. >> i'm standing up for south carolina, what does that mean? >> we went through this last summer. two summers ago, with the showdown over the fiscal -- over the debt ceiling. >> yeah. >> and at that point in time, the president tried to reach bargain. surer is right, john boehner

would have cut a deal. but he couldn't, because at the end of the day, had he done so, his own house republicans would have risen up in mutiny. and he would have lost the speakership. whether mitch mcconnell and more adult members of the members the of the senator can put pressure on the house. if they can't change these fundamental dynamics we're headed in the same direction. >> i think mitch mcconnell is the problem because he's headed for re-election. but i think one of the interesting things that boehner said, is this your moment now, mr. president, now leave. that's both the reality and a little bit of trying to pass the buck. but it's the truth. it is going to be up to the president to go into the negotiations and to lead, and continue to listen and find areas where compromise can be built. it is on his shoulders. >> he has to lead publicly as well. >> yes. >> to sell it? >> he has to sell it. you know, there are a couple -- there aren't a lot of

republicans i think that play in regards to public pressure, but there are a few. and the president's going to have to work hard, find points of pressure on those people. >> and willing to absorb some blows. >> remember when he ran against hillary clinton and beat her. hillary clinton had a great idea, self-reliance, everybody's got to do something. >> it was actually a republican idea. >> okay. so the president bought into an idea he ran against. now this time, everybody on the democratic side, the progressive side said you can't go this romney direction, keep the higher rates or the lower rates or get rid of some big fat deductions. now the president is being given an opening here by saying there's a way to compromise. keep that, but take away the fat cat deductions. there may not be enough money there. >> brookings, the tax policy center? >> yeah. is there another opportunity for that kind of deduction. take away a lot of deductions

state and local, tax deduction us. you're going to pay a lot more taxes. >> yes, i think at the end of the day. right now, the white house is going to stand by, we want the top rate to go back to 36.96. we want it to start with 250 and above. of course they're going to stand by that. the principle that they need to protect the wealthiest pay more. americans don't care how you get there. >> so there san opening here. >> there's no question there's an opening here. >> but the president and the other guy, boehner saying, okay, we've got to root for you here. >> the president is willing to deal. he's willing to compromise. >> thank you, david corn and thank you, dee dee myers. coming up, buy romney lost from the former reagan speechwriter, i think it was reagan said mitt romney's problem wasn't just shifting demographics or a fumbling campaign, it was his message. a mess avenue cutting benefits for the elderly and the poor. unless that message changes the

republicans will not abe majority party. he said, also mitt romney want this week's biggest leader. how about carl cove, carl cove, not only did he save money, his tv performance tuesday night played him the poster card for the refusal for reality people. plus, how the obama campaign reacted to that disastrous first debate and why as late as tuesday night the romney people thought they had this thing won. we've got reporters from both sides. a lot of ticktock. the cia chief, david petraeus resigns he said because of an extramarital affair. we'll try to get to the bottom of that watercooler story tonight. this is "hardball," the place for politics. crisp. it's kind of like drinking a food that's a drink, or a drink that's a food, woooooh! [ male announcer ] taste it and describe the indescribable. could've had a v8.

it's not for colds, it's not for pain, it's just for sleep. because sleep is a beautiful thing. ♪ zzzquil, the non-habit forming sleep-aid from the makers of nyquil.

welcome back to "hardball." the republicans soul searching

well under way after mitt romney's tuesday night. the democratic gains in the senate and house while the republicans are facing the reality of moving further and further away from the right wing ideology. if the republican party wants to survive, then the party that questions evolution is going to have to evolve and quickly. but will they double down on the message just by romney from the guy losing because he was flawed. steve, the republican from cleveland. and david author of e-book published by "news day" called "why romney lost." wow, that's one-day stuff. you always come out of the diagnosis postmortems by basically having an opportunity express your philosophy you had

going in and said this proves me right. but did this election seem to be going in the wrong direction tuesday night as far as you were looking at it? did you know there was a problem? >> well, i knew there was a problem. in in the month of august, the president said 42 states don't matter. we're going to concentrate on eight states, ohio being one of them. and we're going to define mitt romney. for the state like ohio, there wasn't enough time between october 3rd for the real mitt romney to get to the socially moderate, fiscally conservative women because they were convinced this was this evil guy from bain capital. so the president's campaign was brilliant and mitt romney ran out of time. >> didn't mitt romney create a lot of mistakes by talking about $10,000 bets with rick perry. you let him off the hook here, but he seemed like he gave a lot of clues who whom he might well be. >> well, i'll tell you, we all

say things that are unfortunate from time to time. but i happen to believe, the guy who showed up in denver was the real mitt romney. and the problem was, during that campaign season when he has to debate michele bachmann, rick perry, herman cain, he had to move so far to the right. >> why didn't he go to the left? why didn't he go to the left? >> why didn't he go to the left? because he wouldn't have won the nomination. >> that's your point, your party's on the far right because that's where the votes are in the primaries. is that the problem? >> i would argue the same is true in the democratic party, the votes in the primary are far to the left. that's why you see democratic candidates having to veer to the left and then come back to the center. mitt romney got there too late. >> look at this conservative blogger. he does red states. he wrote it's wrong to blame the social conservatives, goat, you may mentally decide to escape to having to deal with the other implication of this election, if

that only the gop would abandon its conservatism. but if you do, you find yourself a new coalition because you won't have half the votes. good luck with that. david, there's a person who has found a way to rationalize the defeat from their point of view which is go right on social conservatism? >> right, the floggings will continue in morale improves. just to your question at the very beginning. i actually started to work on this book six weeks ago. and it was not a -- it's not a product of one day. it's a product of a lot of thought. >> so when you did see the problem emerge then? >> well, let's just start with this fact. in the past six elections, the republican party has won a majority of the votes. the plurality of votes. the majority of the votes just one time, 2004. six elections, five of six, less than half the vote. in the previous presidential elections going back to 1968,

republicans won five times out of six. even if you include their defeats. even if you includes the three-way election of 1958, they averaged 52.5% of the vote. one six-year cycle period, 52.5%. the other, the majority. this is not about mitt romney, it's not about chris christie. it's not about the storm. it's about a deep on sole lessens. the republican party has slowed to a new reality. what it used to do, it worked so well. and it's difficult to admit it doesn't work anymore and hasn't been work for a long time. >> is it just because there -- the percentage of white people in the population is diminishing? >> no, it is not about that. it is not about the latino vote only. it's about the american middle class. the republican party, a series of powerful answers, a product

of low productivity and high inflation and the soviet challenge. now in the 21st century, all of those problems have been solved. you have new problems of inequality and the chinese challenge. they're often the same ideas that worked against completely different problems. it's like giving antibiotics to somebody suffering from mental depression. >> i was watching this whole thing. congressman, congratulations on getting re-election. hannity has one view, which is basically get with the immigration situation and give people a pat to citizenship. and then your view of the party, is there one thing they could do that would make your party wore acceptable to the middle? >> well, absolutely. and that is, we can't abandon the entire new england states and say we're not going to elect republicans. and the way you do that, our message on finances is sound. it's when we got a guy in

indiana and a guy in missouri saying being pregnant after a rape is a gift from god. well, that scares some people. some people in that party need to figure that out. >> david frum, good luck with the e-book. >> thank you cia director david petraeus late today resigned over what he described as an extramarital affair. this is "hardball," the place for politics.

big news, david petraeus has resigned his position over what he called an extramarital affairs. the chief correspondent for foreign matters, richard engel with us. and "the washington post." richard, what do you make of this? he's quitting over an extramarital affair. but why is he telling us about

this extramarital affair. it doesn't seem like the norm washington scandal developing here. what's going on here? >> well, we may have new indications on the timing based on the information we're about to say. it this is what we know so far and what we've been able to confirm and is reportable. of course, the cia director today today resigned and he cited that extramarital affair. also, we have learned from law enforcement officials that the fbi is now investigating, and this is an ongoing investigation into paula broadwell. she is someone who's had close access to general petraeus, she was his biographer and wrote a book on general petraeus called "all in." she has spent substantial time with him the fbi investigation is seeing whether he had improper access to general petraeus' e-mails may have

accidentally or deliberately had accuracy to classified information. and paula broadwell has been close to david petraeus which many people could say it's an indication of the timing of this. >> david, you're excellent at covering all the spying agencies. what's going on? >> well, i think richard mentioned the fbi investigation of paula broadwell. paula broadwell is general petraeus' biographer, and somebody who has been close to him. in literary circles. to speak a moment about the cia, general petraeus when he came to the cia about 15 months ago appointed as his deputy the then acting director michael morale who is a career agency analyst,

michael morel has now stepped in as acting director again. i think that is, from the standpoint of the cia and the establishment of the u.s. intelligence office the most positive thing you could say. >> thank you, david, and richard, that's "hardball" for now. coming up next, "your business" with j.j. ramberg. since my first twenty-ninth birthday. [ female announcer ] head & shoulders. live flake free.

campbell's has 24 new soups that will make it drop over, and over again. ♪ from jammin' jerk chicken, to creamy gouda bisque. see what's new from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do.